Near white out conditions. Ice building up so quick that I have to stop every 20 minutes or so to bang it off my wiper blades.
My comfort level for a while was driving between 50-60km/h but as it got worse, I slowed down even more. Sometimes between 20-40km/h.
Visibility was so bad at times, I would ride the rumble strips on the side of the road, just so that I could tell if I was still on the road.
I was unfortunately in an area that was 250km to the next truck parking. I normally avoid these types of routes but sometimes there is no option. Today was no option. Plus I had 7.5 hours of drive time available to me. Plenty of time, or so I thought.
It took me over 6 hours to go 200km.
What if there is no parking when I get there?
Would today be the day that I have my first HOS violation?
I made it. There was parking. Note to self: review HOS again and see if there would have been an exception today.
Despite near zero visibility, other truckers would fly by me. When this happens, I wonder if I will see them in the ditch up the road.
What I learned:
You have to stay calm and keep going until it is safe to stop. Even though everything inside of you is screaming at you to stop immediately.
I had one minor slip that I corrected immediately. Another time, I was going up a hill and my trailer was off tracking, I steered myself out of this as I was going slow enough to fix it.
Overall, this is just another experience that will make me better in the future.